A Daily Devotional | Walking with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

How To Pray, Part One

I was trying to fall asleep one night when a name kept running through my head. It was the name of someone who’s been in the local news for weeks. I was sick of hearing it, but God said to pray for this man. I really wanted to go to sleep, but I sent up a quick prayer to ask God to bless the man and his marriage. God was not happy with that prayer, not because it was a bad prayer, but He wanted something else. He told me to pray for something completely different, something I never would have thought to ask for. I had to repent of being flippant with God’s request. He trusted me enough to put a situation He could move in into my hands and I wasn’t sensitive enough to realize it. I should have asked, how should I pray? I should have prayed according to His will. Not that God wouldn’t bless the man, but He had a more specific goal. Listen first, then pray.